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Coach Wants To Avoid Third-Set Letdowns
The Northwest College Trappers started their conference season off with a bang last week with two big wins.
Playing at home for the first time in three weeks, the Trappers topped Central Wyoming in four sets Friday evening. Saturday’s game with Western Wyoming was a little tougher, but the result was the same, a four-set Trapper win.
Head coach Shaun Pohlman was happy with the wins, but said he thinks the team has yet to give their best.
“We start well, but don’t finish well, and we have to change that,” he said.
Pohlman’s concern reflected the Trappers’ performance, as the team won the first two sets in both matches, lost the third and then rallied to win the fourth.
NWC took the lead 4-3 in the first set with Central and never gave it up. The Trappers stretched their advantage to 21- 12 and held on to take the first set 25-18. The Rustlers managed to hang around a little longer in the second set until Aimee Molina took the serve with the Trappers leading 15-13. Her serves resulted in three consecutive points that boosted the lead to 18-13 and from then on NWC outscored Central 7-4. A kill by freshman Lauga Gauta scored game point and the Trappers earned a 2-0 lead with a 25-17 set win.
In the third set, the Trappers appeared to let up, and Central took an early lead that they never gave up. NWC trailed by as many as seven points and the Rustlers took the set 25-21.
In the final set, Aleksandra Djordjevic’s serve resulted in five consecutive points to break a 4-4 tie and build a 9-4 lead. Central was never able to cut into that lead, and the Trappers ended the match with a 25-18 win. Match point came on a kill by Teodora Tepavac.
Kaite Johnson and Gauta led the NWC attack during the match with 13 kills apiece, while Tepavac and Djordjevic each contributed eight.
“I didn’t think we ever had it in the bag,” Pohlman said, expressing his concern about the Trappers’ inconsistency. “In volleyball, with no time restriction, a match is not over until you’ve scored enough points. Until then, the other team can still come back.”
Pohlman added that Central’s 3-13 record going into the match probably “doesn’t indicate what they are capable of,” and he expects them to be more of a challenge as the season progresses.
Western Wyoming pushed the Trappers a bit harder when they brought their 6-10 record to Cabre Gym on Saturday. In the beginning, things looked good for the NWC women when they took a four-point advantage at 6-2. The teams then began exchanging points, and while the Trappers stretched their lead to five several times, Western nearly always matched the point on the next serve until Northwest expanded the lead to 20-14. At that point, the Mustangs responded by scoring eight points while surrendering only three to make it a one-point game at 23-22. An exchange of sideouts gave Northwest a game-point opportunity, and a Gauta kill gave the Trappers the first set, 25- 23.
Set two followed a similar pattern, with the Trappers nursing small leads until, as in the first set, they took their largest lead of the match, 20-14. Once again, the Mustangs staged a comeback, but this time NWC stopped the surge at 19 after reaching 24 themselves. Djordjevic ended the set with a kill and the Trappers led 2-0.
Then the Northwest crew seemed to lose their energy, and Western took a 10-4 lead early in the third set. The Trappers revived at that point and a six-point run tied the score at 10. The Mustangs took the lead back and never relinquished it, although the Trappers matched them point for point and nearly tied the set at 23 before Western scored set point when a bad pass by Northwest went out of bounds.
For most of set four, it looked like a repeat of set three, with Western holding on to a small lead. Northwest managed to take an 8-7 lead early, but gave it up when the Mustangs broke a 10-10 tie. The Trappers were able to stay within a point or two, but missed several opportunities to go back on top until a Tepavac kill tied the score at 17. Two Mustang errors, and another kill by Tepavac put the Trappers up 20-17, and Jelena Slijepcevic made it a fourpoint lead by serving an ace. Again the Mustangs fought back, and after a kill by Djordjevic brought the Trappers to match point, the Western women scored twice to make it a one-point game. On their next serve though, a kill by Easton Clements ended the match and gave the Trappers the win.
Tepavac led the offense with 21 kills, and Djordjevic finished with 18. Each of them made 14 digs defensively. Molina led in digs with 15. Gauta finished with 13 kills.
Pohlman was happy about the team’s first two conference wins, but looking down the road, he said the team needs to improve.
“Any time you open up 2-0 at home, it’s not terribly bad,” he said. “But our performance this weekend won’t get us back to nationals, or if it did, it wouldn’t take us very deep into nationals.”
His biggest concern is consistency, and the team’s letdowns in the third set both nights are part of that concern.
“I’d like to see our team give their best,” he said. “They should be fighting for consistency and I’m not seeing that from them.”
The Trappers are now 15-4 overall, and were ranked fourth in the nation going into last weekend’s competition. This Trappers beat Rocky Mountain College's JV team in straight sets during an exhibition match on Tuesday evening, and will go on the road this weekend to play Sheridan College on Friday and Casper College on Saturday.
Their next home appearances will be Oct. 9 and 10 when Laramie County and Eastern Wyoming come to Powell.